Braves Claim Jordan Schafer

The Braves announced that they claimed outfielder Jordan Schafer off of waivers from the Astros. Schafer played in the Braves' organization from 2005-11 before going to Houston in last summer's Michael Bourn trade.

Schafer appeared in 106 games for the Astros this past season, posting a .211/.297/.294 batting line with 27 stolen bases as the team's primary center fielder. The 26-year-old spent most of August on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Now that Bourn's a free agent Schafer provides the Braves with some insurance in center field. Atlanta originally selected him in the third round of the 2005 draft.

I’m sure at the very best he is being considered as a possible 4th OF, and because he has options left he may just be minor league filler, (filling in while more talented prospects get a shot at the bigs.)
I would not be surprised to see the Braves make a play for McClouth as a low cost option in center until they can find a better long range solution.

No thanks. Please don’t bring back McClouth or Rick Ankiel: those guys were such awful hitters it was painful to watch. I honestly hope that Schafer is not being considered as a possible replacement for Bourn. A Constanza/Schafer platoon doesn’t cut it. We need a legit starting center fielder like Shane Victorino or Denard Span.

Now this is just completely random. Well at least we’ve already found our replacement for Michael Bourn…I’m kidding I’m kidding. Should be a solid backup at all 3 OF spots and speed off the bench. Will be a nice replacement if someone gets hurt for awhile. Nice to have him back.

Let him, Constanza, and whoever else duke it out in spring training for the backup role. Worst case scenario we just cut him. I think being in a professional clubhouse with more vets he can straighten out whatever attitude problems he may have if he makes the team.

This news should shed light on how much confidence Wren and Co. have in our upper-level CF/OF prospects (Cunningham, Lipka). To me, it’s showing that their development is further enough along, even with many positives, to be able to depend on them as the “CF of the future”. I’m not stating that Schafer is, but you can’t have enough transition pieces when you know your current crop isn’t named Mike Trout.

why go after a guy that was nearly uncoachable and had one of the biggest egos with the sorriest attitude on the team. I met him in TN when he was here with the MS Braves about two years ago. WORST ATTITUDE EVER… not to mention the fact that he struck out more times than not. Losing a guy like Chipper in the offseason, followed by the inability to resign Bourn, followed by the first move being the return of Schafer makes me wonder what Frank Wren is doing. We haven’t won a playoff series since 1998! Big players, big splashes, big rewards…. This was just a waste of space on my twitter feed and waste of time signing the guy. The braves of the 90’s are becoming more of a blur.

Well, having a pretty decent lead heading into the 8th inning in game 4 of the NLDS against the Astros can be argued as ‘sniffing.’ Had they won, they would have went back to Atlanta and had Smoltz starting game 5.

I’d much rather have him as 4th or 5th outfielder over Constanza. I don’t know what people see in Constanza. Speed is all he’s got. He’s a bad defensive outfielder and bad baserunner. Schafer is better in both areas. Plus he doesn’t throw like a girl.

My only problem with Schafer is his not listening to anyone trying to coach him. Chipper told him in spring training 2011 to cut it off trying to hit homeruns and just slap the ball on the ground and use his speed. And that worked for a while but then he went back to trying to hit homeruns. When you don’t listen to a HOF bound hitter then you’ve got serious ego issues.

he has always had ego issues. there were articles written about him at the age of 11, describing him in a way that i would consider cocky. what 11 year old does not want an autograph, because he thinks “i’ll be there one day, so i don’t need it”.

It’s not always to do with ego. You have to remember that these guys got to where the majors by doing the same thing over and over and over and repeating it perfectly. When in times of trouble and struggles you are more likely to go back to what you know, to what feels comfortable and has worked well before. It probably isn’t ego, it is probably a combination of a lack of confidence in the new changes and the comfort of his old familiar way of doing things… Or he might actually just have an ego lol

Well, this is kind of amusing. I’m not expecting much from him (if anything at all) but maybe he’ll surprise me. At the very least the Braves will have a back-up OF that can actually play defense. And now looking at his numbers he may not even be able to do that?

I keep falling for the Schafer trap. He’s got talent, and just the kind of skill set I love watching and isn’t generally rewarded by the market, good fielder, great speed, some power, ability to take a walk. I still hope he has some crazy break out, but it almost certainly won’t happen, and if it does it will probably be more in the bourn mode, I think the power potential is very limited.

Has talent, shows it sometimes, but generally doesn’t play up to his capabilities, and sometimes just doesn’t look like he wants to be on the field. Who knows, maybe going back to the Braves will give him new life, but the Astros gave him a fair shot and he flunked.

put it this way… Fredi G had the stones to bench Uggla when he played bad (then put him back in and Uggla played decently), he has the stones to put Schafer in his place. But Fredi’s soft demeanor could work for Schafer.

Really little risk here for the Braves—Schaefer is not eligible for arbitration until after next season (he came 18 days short of Super-2 status) and as such would be a very minimal risk. It may also be Schaefer’s last chance to prove himself worthy of being an everyday player; that stat line from last season will not get it done in Atlanta, even with how ugly Dan Uggla’s stats were.

Uggla >>>>>> Schafer…Uggla, despite having a bad season this year, is a guy who can’t hit for average but he hits home runs, gets on base, plays decent defense most of the time and plays the game the right way. Schafer doesn’t do any of those things and really doesn’t belong in the majors imo.